Stinger Headlight High Beams

[itguy61]

Makes me wonder why Kia aims these so low. My Sorento was the same way. It seems unsafe. Both of these vehicles had a hard cutoff of light you could see, almost so close that you would not have proper reaction time to stop. Never had any other vehicle where the lights project cut off so close and you could clearly see the line on the ground where it cut off.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The decision to aim the low beams so short is a mystery. Maybe Kia Korea just doesn't believe in high speed driving? Somebody higher up is mandating this; it has to be one person with very strange myopia about the real word of driving in the US (can't speak for anywhere else; but haven't the Aussies been complaining about the same thing?).

 

[Manaz]

Low beam focus and distance projection is a big thing here - we have a population of only 25m in a landmass the size of the continental USA - so to catch up with a neighbour, it's often a 2-3 day drive, and that includes nights when you have to be ready for suicidal kangaroos, wallabies, emus, wombats, giant blood-sucking bats - and that's just the native animals, you can add foxes, horses, camels, the odd llama, etc to that as well.

OK, maybe I exaggerated a little - but we do tend to drive long distances at night, and it's important to have good headlights (both regular and high beam). I'll absolutely be getting mine adjusted to suit properly when it arrives!

 

[LaserJet]

I did the screwdriver thing

I am glad it worked for you ok. I had the same ohm feeling when I adjusted mine. It was like I got a new car just for night driving. Fast.

 

[itguy61]

Is the screwdriver thing not available for cars with bending headlights? I seem to remember trying it and having trouble figuring out how to get something to happen. That is why I removed the air boxes and used a ratchet wrench to turn the nut. Added about ten minutes to the process.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I am glad it worked for you ok. I had the same ohm feeling when I adjusted mine. It was like I got a new car just for night driving. Fast.

Absolutely changed night driving. We came down the canyon last night, and the low beams were picking out road signs ahead like crazy; yet nobody coming the opposite direction flashed their high beams at me. The top of the headlights pool seem to reach to just below typical rearview mirror height on the car that I am following. This is important: I'm sure that if the top edge of the headlights pool overlaps the rearview mirrors that this will be too high and will be an irritant to the driver ahead. So, at safe following distance, say, six car lengths back at c. 45 MPH, thereabouts, your headlights should only light up the lower half of the car in front.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Is the screwdriver thing not available for cars with bending headlights? I seem to remember trying it and having trouble figuring out how to get something to happen. That is why I removed the air boxes and used a ratchet wrench to turn the nut. Added about ten minutes to the process.

If the adjustment holes are there, the screwdriver should work. It takes quite a few turns to move them a little bit.

Btw, my GT1 has two holes, the other one is for L/R adjustment.

 

[nhcowboy28]

Is the screwdriver thing not available for cars with bending headlights? I seem to remember trying it and having trouble figuring out how to get something to happen. That is why I removed the air boxes and used a ratchet wrench to turn the nut. Added about ten minutes to the process.

Yes. Gt2 has the same screw adjustments for up/down. Holes are there for left/right but no actual gears to spin in those.

 

[Przemek]

Yes. Gt2 has the same screw adjustments for up/down. Holes are there for left/right but no actual gears to spin in those.

By mistake I placed a screwdriver in the wrong funnel (L/R) and turned it a couple of times back and forth looking for any changes in the height of the headlights. Then realised that it was a wrong hole. Do you mean that the L/R regulation is not active so I do not have to bother that I misaligned the horizontal (left/right) position of the headlights? I started to worry how to get it back to the original position.

 

[nhcowboy28]

By mistake I placed a screwdriver in the wrong funnel (L/R) and turned it a couple of times back and forth looking for any changes in the height of the headlights. Then realised that it was a wrong hole. Do you mean that the L/R regulation is not active so I do not have to bother that I misaligned the horizontal (left/right) position of the headlights? I started to worry how to get it back to the original position.

There is no gear on gt2 for left right that I saw. Just up down. Probably something to do with dbl feature.

 

[Przemek]

There is no gear on gt2 for left right that I saw. Just up down. Probably something to do with dbl feature.

Seems strange because I have 2 funnels one marked with D/U and the other one with L/R which ends with a plastic screw which I turned back and forth for quite a long time...from what I read somewhere it is for the left right position adjustment but seems not working..

 

[nhcowboy28]

Seems strange because I have 2 funnels one marked with D/U and the other one with L/R which ends with a plastic screw which I turned back and forth for quite a long time...from what I read somewhere it is for the left right position adjustment but seems not working..

Yes. The funnels are there, but nothing at the bottom on the gt2

 

[Przemek]

Yes. The funnels are there, but nothing at the bottom on the gt2

I have GT2 AWD and there is a plastic Phillips head screw at the bottom (I checked 2 cars and both have the same) - maybe it is a different version for Europe? The screw was mounted quite firmly but I started turning it and now it moves freely in both directions. I plan to check the headlights beams on Saturday - just hoping I haven't damaged something

 

[Paul J. McCain]

Sorry to bump an older thread, but I came across this issue as well (low headlamp aim) so I wanted to contribute for anyone reading in the future:

I work in the automotive lighting industry. I was shocked at how low the aim was on the factory GT2 (adaptive) lamps. The cutoff (flat portion at the top of the pattern) shines about 50-60 feet in front of the vehicle, on a flat road. I have seen a lot of bad factory aiming, usually it is too high. But in the Stinger, driving at night is miserable with the factory aim.

In general terms, FMVSS/DOT aiming and beam pattern standards call for that top of the cutoff to be parallel - that is, it should shine to the horizon on a perfectly level surface. The factory aim on my 2018 GT2 was at least 4-6 degrees lower than it should be, which makes a HUGE difference in distance of the headlamp beam.

To aim the headlamps properly, park on a perfectly level surface with the car at least 20 feet from a wall. Look at your headlights - you will see a small dot in the center, molded into the plastic. This is intentional, indicating the optical center for aiming. Use a tape measure and determine how far off the ground that dot is. If it's 30 inches, go to the wall and measure 30 inches up. The top of the cutoff should be 30 inches up as well. If you lower your Stinger by 2", as long as it's even all around, your aim should NOT change! But it's always a good idea to re-aim when you do any kind of suspension change as it could alter how the vehicle sits.